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Book Challenge Week 2 and 3 – Magic Cops, Foxes, Alcohol.

Bit late on the update again, my apologies. Working alternate weekends might cause this to happen more often.

After finishing the Rogue One novelisation, I moved on with eagerness to read Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. Based on a few recommendations from my Twitter friends to read the book, and seeing the Amazon reviews describing it as CSI meets Harry Potter, I was easily convinced.

I…..mostly enjoyed it. While I loved the idea of a police officer discovering he has magical powers and can take witness statements from the undead, I didn’t quite sink into the book as much as I thought I might. It had everything I’d enjoy from literary genres; magic, detective fiction and murder mysteries, I had a really difficult time finishing the book. Forcing myself to finish reading something for the sake of saying I had didn’t appeal. Not my favourite book and I’m disappointed because it had everything going for me to like it. I might revisit it at a later date, and maybe the rest of the series.

Disappointed by the second book in my challenge, I eased myself back into enjoying reading by reading a very short story by Michael Morpurgo. I’ve loved his books and writings since I was a child, and The Fox and the Ghost King was absolutely no exception. A fox cub and his father make their way home from a Leicester City football match, dejected and saddened by their team losing yet another football match, when they hear a ghostly voice asking for help. In return for helping the mysterious voice be found by archaeologists and restored to his rightful resting place, he’d help their football team win the league. The rest, well, you know what happened.

My favourite thing about the book is how Morpurgo captured the way the fox cub and his father talk to each other about the football they’d seen in exactly the same way a human parent and child would talk to each other. Their team is the greatest ever, they may not play very well but they’d support them to the bitter end. It could easily have been a conversation between a human father and his son coming home from a sporting event, football or otherwise. The parent might take their child out for some food after a game, the same way the fox and cub scrounge for food out of bins on their way home (onions on pizza is their favourite!). I love children’s books that appeal to both children and adults, and this definitely ticked all those boxes.

The book didn’t take me long to read, I polished it off in about half an hour, and decided to get ahead of myself and read ANOTHER BOOK. Whaaaat.

When I decided to make myself do this challenge, I wanted to stop myself sitting in front of my computer or iPad watching YouTube videos every evening. Switch off the computer, take some time to myself and read a book. So of course, I picked up a book written by a YouTuber.

You Deserve A Drink is a collection of true stories collated by mixologist, comedienne and YouTuber Mamrie Hart about her life leading up to and beyond internet fame. If you don’t know her, she makes semi-regular beverage tutorials on her YouTube channel dedicated to a celebrity she feels deserve a drink that week. Often times, someone in the news, mostly people she can create a clever pun for, with equal measures of swearing, innuendo and fart jokes.

I bloody love Mamrie Hart. She has a wonderful writing style, way with words, is hilariously funny, and can absolutely make you a superb cocktail or three. Each chapter and story is preceded by a cocktail recipe inspired by the story she’s about to tell. The girl knows her drinks mixing, she’s good at it.

Next week? Not sure what I’ll read. Guess you’ll find out.

Book Tally 21/1/17

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Alexander FreedRivers of London Ben AaronovitchThe Fox and the Ghost King Michael MorpurgoYou Deserve A Drink Mamrie Hart